FlueCube hits invention list

GREAT WESTERN - Great Western resident Alan Thomas has come
up with a simple and effective fix to the age old problem affecting
wood-fuelled home heating appliances.

Mr Thomas' invention, the FlueCube, has been acknowledge
with a nomination in the Bendigo Inventor Awards' Agriculture and Environment
Sustainability category, with the winner announced tonight.

Mr Thomas developed a flue cowl that is effective in
removing atmospheric back pressure caused in typical winter conditions.

The item fixes the issue of one end of the flue having
light-hot air rising and the other having heavy-cold air lowering. The greater
volume of air is the cold makes for unfair competition and hot air cannot
escape.

It can lead to any gasses and particulates that should
travel up the pipe finding the nearest exit - Often out the wood fire door and
into the living room, which is a serious health issue.

The FlueCube cowl is clever in drawing in the cool air
naturally, and as heat travels up the flue and is fanned outward to mix with
the cooler air, it allows for a miniature cyclone to spin around the sides of
the chamber leaving the flue unobstructed and allowing the heat to travel up.

The result is a fire that is easy to light, smoke is going
up the chimney and not inside the home, and the fire reaches its optimum heat
faster and burns cleaner - Using less wood.